Crisis Core: The End
by Natural Seoul
Summary: A spin on the video cut scene of the end of Crisis Core. Includes Zack commentary.


Crisis Core: The End

Warning: no happy endings.

Listen to: Toki no Hōrōsha (Wanderer of Time) by Risa Ohki

* * *

I could feel blood trickling from my head wound down my face, and I could taste the blood in my mouth. I was getting too cold, and the rain wasn't helping. There were too many bullets in my body: burning lumps of intrusive metal. I wanted to pull them out, but I can barely lift my arm. Well, the arm that didn't have the Buster Sword in it. I don't think I could lift Angeal's precious weapon for anything right now. It's about time to close the curtain on Zachary Fair's life… I don't think I can survive this one.

Angeal and Sephiroth… they aren't here to fix me up again, to laugh with (or at) me and tell me not to be so reckless, and that they'll visit me after the paperwork is done. Things go black for a while.

I drift back into consciousness. I really can't move now. I can barely feel the rain. I wonder if its raining where Aerith is. Will she know when I die? She's pretty spiritual, so I hope she does. She'll have some closure. But… I guess they must have told her I died fighting the not-Sephiroth. So she already thinks I'm dead. Damn, poor girl. I wish I had given her one last hug before I went out. Stupid of me, not to hug her. Now all I feel is really tired. Like I want to sleep. Damn.

The Chocobo-head better be ok. I did carry his ass all around Gaia. I think, if he survives this, he'll really be messed up in the head. But he'll be alive, and that's what I was aiming for. Keep the kid alive.

There are some noises in the background that interrupt my thoughts. I hope it's not a soldier. I left Spike behind a rock somewhere in front of me, and I don't think it'd take too much to find his Mako-poisoned body. I can't do much right now. It sounds like someone is dragging themselves through the mud. Did I fail to kill someone? An army is a hard thing to keep track of. I try and tense, to do _something_ to protect my little buddy, but it "just ain`t happenin", as Reno would say.

Spiky hair waved into my vision, followed by a ridiculously innocent face. How his hair managed to be spiked in the rain was beyond my blood-starved brain's processing level. Good. The Choco was ok. Mission complete.

"Zack…" he said softly, confusion on his face. Damn, if I wasn't all shot up, I'd ruffle his hair and tell him it would be fine. As it was, I just kinda jerked my head a little. I had to say _something_ to the kid; he looked like he was going to cry.

"My part till now…" what was I coming up with? Cloud was watching me like I was a god dictating his will. Jeesh, the kid had more hero-worship complexes than I did.

I guess that's why I took the little guy under my wing. He reminded me so much of a withdrawn version of me. I thought he had a lot of potential, if only he could overcome his quiet isolation.

"Your part?" he repeated, as if to memorize every word.

"That's right, you are…" I needed to give him something, something to make him feel better. What could I give him? I'm kind of… going… here. With a lot of effort, I lifted my arm. It swayed a bit, but I managed to clap him on the shoulder. The effort was a bit much, though, because I dragged him down as my arm dropped. Shit, I was all bleed-y. He was going to get blood on his face. I guess… it kind of suited the mood though.

"Live. You're the evidence that I lived," I managed. He's like a mini-me. He was the last SOLDIER who could handle a Buster Sword, the last true SOLDIER. I tried to ruffle his hair a bit, but my arm slipped and landed with a wet smack against the mud. It was getting really hard to breathe.

Cloud lifted his head from my chest, and damn, I did get him all bloody. He kind of looked at me, the Mako swirling in his eyes. He was still Mako-poisoned, apparently. The way he was staring at me, he looked like a lost baby chocobo.

With more effort than I thought I had in me, I lifted my Buster Sword to him. I had thought of what I could give him.

`"My pride and dreams…" I held up the hilt to him. Damn it Spike! Don't just stare at it, take it. It was painfully heavy, and the bullets in my shoulder were re-announcing themselves. "…have them all…" I finished, waiting for him to close his hands on my precious sword. It was his now. The only thing I could really give him. My legacy. The legacy of the greatest men on Gaia: Sephiroth, Genesis… Angeal… the legacy of SOLDIER before everything went so wrong.

The kid held the Buster Sword, and I gave it a little shove, just to make sure he got it. It took a lot out of me, and I let my arm drop again. I think Genesis would have been pleased by the way this scene was going. The man lived for drama.

"…I'm the evidence that you lived…" he repeated carefully. I guess the Mako was making his brain as fuzzy as his head. Damn kid. How can I leave you like this?

Against my will, my eyes shut against the rain. I was just getting too tired. I heard Cloud gasp. It was muffled, but I think he screamed. _It'll be ok kid_, I tried to say. _Just grasp your dreams with the strength I know you have. If you want to be a hero, you have to grasp your dreams._ I felt something warm on my cheek. The rain had stopped. That made me smile. The flowers would be growing well for Aerith.

"Thank you," Cloud said. At least I think, because it was kind of hard to hear. "I won't forget." I was losing touch with what was going on, because whatever happened next was lost to me. For some reason, I remembered something about him right then. That kid, he told me that the natural sky scared him. Kind of silly, when his name's Cloud.

I… I think I see Angeal. But that can't be right, because Angeal is dead. I… killed him. Oh, that's right… I'm dying. I must be going to the Lifestream. But I think it's going to be ok…

I did it, Angeal. I'm a hero.

* * *

Sniff. Bye Zack.

So funny story about the song I suggested. I downloaded it, as it was labelled Crisis Core in Limewire. I really wanted to know who sung it, so I picked out some Japanese I knew and Google`d it. I thought it suited the ending of Crisis Core so much, but it turns out its Terra's Theme from FFVI, from the FF: Pray CD. Hmmph.

Aaaand I really can't avoid it. They characters say Zax in the Japanese version of everything. They even have Zax as his name in Tseng's book. Damn


End file.
